The Arizona sentinel., 1887-05-28
THE PLANTING OF CORN.
AdvisabilIty of Regulating the Quantity of
 Seed to the Soils Strength.

AdvisabilIty of Regulating the Quantity of Seed to the Soils Strength.
 Since the. time when the early set
 tiers of Western New York planted
 their corn with an axe by chopping
 into the mold of the logging field and
 dropping the seed in the cleft, there has
 been steady improvement in the
 method of preparing the soil and put
 ting in the seed. When the heavy
 blacksmith-made hoe was supplanted
 by the horse -cultivator, rows, which
 before were unthought of, became a
 necessity. More than enongh is writ
 ten about preparation of land for corn,
 but there is not sufficient understand
 ing yet about the needs of the plant
 after it begins to grow. The quantity
 of seed for given surface, to corre-
 spond to the strength of the
 soil, is still an undetermined fac-
 tor. Whether too much seed be plant
 ed or the rows too close together the result is the same-there will always
 be fodder at the expense of grain.
 Seed must be regulated to strength of
 soil. This often the last thing consid-
 sidered, is of vital importance. There
 are the best of reasons for saying that feet inches is a standard for width
 of corn rows. The acre is the unit of measurement in. farming. All the
 newer States are accurately surveyed into squares with right angles. Counties
 are divided into townships, townships into sections and sections into fourths which makes the ideal farms of the country. If we split these quarter sections in equal halves we have S0-
 acre farms, twice as long as they are wide. This divided into equal squares make 40 acres, which being again sub divided makes the ideal field-40 rods wide and 80 rods long. Now if this field is to be planted to corn it is very desirable to the farmer who lays out his plans with some degree of regular ity to so subdivide each acre into rows that they may be uniform and at such distance apart as best to facilitate after cultivation. Somewhere between 3I and 4 feet will be chosen.
 Now feet 8 inches apart for the rows give exactly IS rows to the acre across the field from side to side, and g rows to the acre the long way of the field. In the after cultivation of the crop, the modern two-horse cultivators will work to the center of the TOW, while at 4 feot or wider, there will always be strip in the center that the cultivator teeth will not disturb. If the corn be cut up 9 hills square, each acre will have just 40 shocks; by husking four shocks in different parts of the field the product will be one tenth the yield of an acre. Thus ac- curacy can be determined, which, to the thinking farmer is worth some- thing The value of this distance is perceived after the crop is gathered in, and when the field is to be plowed 1 again. Every plowman knows how difficult it is to turn cornstubble under 1 well. unless the last furrow before | turning the hill covers up close to the outside of it. Rows 4 feet apart re- quire three 16-inch furrows to compass the space. This is too wide for or dinary blows; 4 inches less space permits the three fur | rows to turn the soil com- pletely. The above practice on my | own farm for several years is so satis- factory that I know it will be adopted | by others after a years trial. The distance named gives 518 hills to the acre more than at feet, and requires less seed to the hill. I aim to know that my seed will germinate before planting, and the rule is to plant just two kernels to the hill, and never less. If three are dropped occasionally, l do not require one to be picked out, but I would as soon the accident of one ker- nel to the hill be made as to have four planted. Too large growth of stalk is fatal to best result in the product of grain. As will be inferred, I am ''slow'' enough still to prefer the hoe to power planter, as Iplant only about twenty acres a year. have never seen a planter yet that could count. I mark accurately both ways, and can usually plant twenty acres in two days with three hands. 1 feel pretty well satisfied with myself when a field is well planted, trusting to thorough cultivation to complete job well begun.-A. C. GZiddena, in ". y. Tribune.